Ruling sides with same-sex couple turned away by bed-and-breakfast

Lane Christiansen / for the Chicago Tribune

Todd, left, and Mark Wathen, of Tuscola, Ill., seen here at their home in Mattoon in 2011, filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights over the way they were treated when inquiring about potential venues for their civil union ceremony.

Todd, left, and Mark Wathen, of Tuscola, Ill., seen here at their home in Mattoon in 2011, filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights over the way they were treated when inquiring about potential venues for their civil union ceremony.

Public businesses in Illinois cannot refuse to serve same-sex couples based on religious beliefs, a judge for the Illinois Human Rights Commission has ruled, siding with a same-sex couple denied access to a downstate bed-and-breakfast in 2011.

The ruling, the first of its kind in the state, will have broad implications on how Illinois will protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people seeking public services, according to Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

"We've seen this in other states, but this is now the clear interpretation of Illinois public accommodation laws," Yohnka said. "We hope that no other bed-and-breakfast and no other business in Illinois would be so bold as to discriminate given this ruling."

The case was brought to the attention of the Human Rights Commission after Todd and Mark Wathen, of Tuscola, filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights over the way they were treated when inquiring about potential venues for their civil union ceremony in June 2011.

The owner of the Timber Creek Bed and Breakfast in Paxton wrote in an email to the couple: "We will never host same-sex civil unions. We will never host same-sex weddings even if they become legal in Illinois. We believe homosexuality is wrong and unnatural based on what the Bible says about it. If that is discrimination, I guess we unfortunately discriminate."

The owner went on to send several more emails quoting Bible verses "detailing how the Creator of the Universe looks at gay lifestyle," according to the decision.

After the Department of Human Rights found "substantial evidence" that a human rights violation had been committed, the couple had the choice of asking the Human Rights Commission to address the situation or file a lawsuit in civil court. Both legal avenues would render a decision that would be binding.

The Wathens chose to let the commission handle the complaint.

"It was such a slap in the face to be turned down like that," said Todd Wathen. "We just wanted to make sure that this didn't happen to anyone else."

As the complaint was considered, attorneys for the bed-and-breakfast argued that they did not violate human rights because the Wathens were making general inquiries, not asking about specific dates. They contended the bed-and-breakfast was not a public place. And finally, they argued that applying the Human Rights Act was a violation of the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which protects religious freedoms from government intrusion.

Attorneys for the bed-and-breakfast could not be reached Thursday, and a message left with Timber Creek was not returned.

In his 25-page ruling, Administrative Law Judge Michael R. Robinson agreed with the Wathens on several counts, including that the business was a public place, and that it didn't make sense for the business to argue that a same-sex civil union ceremony was outside the scope of services it already provided to other guests.

The "respondent has not indicated what, along with the provision of space, chairs, tables, tablecloths, electricity, tents, garbage removal and free parking as depicted in the wedding section of its website, it would need to do to accommodate a same-sex civil union ceremony that it does not already provide to an opposite-sex wedding," Robinson wrote.

Betty Tsamis, attorney for the Wathens, said they were thrilled about the ruling, and its implications for same-sex couples in Illinois for the future.

"A very clear message was sent from the commission, which is that if you are a private business or a business open to the public, you cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation claiming some sort of religious exemption," Tsamis said.